


saving face

by fevermachine



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, graffiti artist au, only rated teen bc taako cusses a bit, others are involved but only briefly..., there's also some background lupcretia... i love my girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 06:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14050488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fevermachine/pseuds/fevermachine
Summary: Someone keeps drawing skeletons inside of all Taako’s street art.He usually wouldn’t care about a fellow graf artist’s additions to his work, but these add-ons border on insulting. They both manage to elevate his work to new heights and make him seem like a complete poser, which is bullshit because Taako’s the best street artist Neverwinter has to offer and has been for seven years. This is his turf, goddamn it, and he’s not gonna let some upstart of a street artist tear it away from him. The tiny, well stenciled skeletons can only mean one thing: war.(AU in which Taako is a graffiti artist)





	saving face

Someone keeps drawing skeletons inside of all Taako’s street art. 

He usually wouldn’t care about a fellow graf artist’s additions to his work, but these add-ons border on insulting. They both manage to elevate his work to new heights and make him seem like a complete poser, which is bullshit because Taako’s the best street artist Neverwinter has to offer and has been for seven years. This is his turf, goddamn it, and he’s not gonna let some upstart of a street artist tear it away from him. The tiny, well stenciled skeletons can only mean one thing: war.

Unfortunately, Taako’s kind of stuck in second period right now, so warfare is going to have to wait.

“Heya, Krav,” he announces loudly to his lab partner as he slams his bag down onto the table. Kravitz’s head pops up in almost comical shock.

“Shit, Taako, you scared the living daylights out of me!” Flustered, Kravitz runs a hand through his hair, trying to regain the decorum Taako’s just shamelessly stolen from him.

Emboldened, Taako reaches over and tugs on one of Kravitz’s hoodie strings until they become uneven. Kravitz hates it when he does that. “Save your weird grandpa maxims for later, Krav. I’ve got a mystery for you to crack.”

Kravitz frowns. “Why not ask Angus to handle it? You know I’m no detective.”

Taako does, in fact, know this. Kravitz is possibly one of the most oblivious guys out there, which is unfortunate, because he’s pretty much physically incapable of detecting any of Taako’s flirting.

“Because, kemosabe, Angus is like twelve and not an artist. I need someone with flair to help me out. So, obviously, you.” He gestures to the whole look Kravitz has going on, which is about as business casual as a high school senior can get without being mocked. Today he’s wearing a sleek button-down and black dress pants with a dark hoodie and converse. Taako, who is currently wearing a very loud crop top and neon skinny jeans, can appreciate the dedication to aesthetic.

Kravitz’s face looks like it’s trying to collapse in on itself in confusion. “Why would he need to be an artist? Or have flair?” His expression suddenly rights itself to one of understanding, then worry. “Taako, are the police after you? About your-” he leans in and cups a hand over his mouth, "art thing?”

“Nah, dude, I’m not on the lam. Taako’s all good, my man. Someone’s just been fucking with my work, is all, and I need a partner in crime to help me either find out who it is or outdo them with my next piece. Thus the flair thing.”  
Angus is great and all, but not the kind of person who would understand why Taako needs to know who drew the bones. He’d probably go about the investigation in an annoyingly wooden way, too. Kravitz, on the other hand, is a wonderful complement to Taako’s personality and could be a good artistic collaborator in a pinch.

Or that could just be his crush talking. Whatever.

Kravitz nods. “Ah, okay. When do you need me to help you?”

“I was thinking we sneak out tonight and investigate, ‘cuz I don’t have work. If we decide finding the perp’s not worth it, then you can help me prep stencils for my next piece.” Taako begins pulling shit out of his backpack to get ready for class. They’re supposed to be dissecting worms today, and he is less than thrilled about the prospect of seeing tiny guts. The worms don’t deserve this.

“I don’t know about that, Taako. My mom would get pretty pissed at me if I snuck out tonight to help you investigate art crimes.” Kravitz shrugs apologetically. “You know how she gets.”

The word intense doesn’t even begin to describe Kravitz’s mom. That’s kinda what happens when your whole family is goth, though.

“Man, don’t even sweat it. I’ll help break you out and make sure your mom doesn’t flip out on you.” Nonchalantly, Taako flips open his sketchbook and begins doodling an idea for some cool tentacle-related street art. “Trust me, Taako’s got this.”

Kravitz nods. “Okay,” he says apprehensively. “If you say so.”

Their teacher walks by and hands Kravitz something. “Hey, you two, time to get to work.”

Kravitz immediately sits up straight and starts prepping their workstation. “Taako, worm,” he says tersely.

Taako snorts. “Sorry, what? Is this some kind of hip new slang term you’re trying out?”

Silently, Kravitz points to the worm carcass on the tray in front of him.

“Oh, worm. Gotcha. You’re still on for tonight, right?”

Kravitz nods again. “Sure, why not.”

Taako can already feel the adrenaline rising in his stomach. “Sick.”

***  
The school day ends without much fanfare, and Taako’s glad to see it go. He only has a few hours to work on the tentacle stencils before he goes to get Kravitz, and he needs to make sure they’re perfect. He heads out to the parking lot, head so full of ideas that he barely notices Lup trying to get his attention.

“Hey, Koko! Get your head out of your ass and get over here!” She waves him over dramatically.

“What, can’t a guy walk?” He pretends to be offended, but speeds his pace up a little bit until he gets to where she’s parked.

In typical fashion, Barry is leaning up against the side of Lup’s red sports car, chatting with her and pretending he isn’t uncomfortably head over heels for her. Lucretia’s there, too, scribbling away in her notebook and occasionally adding to the conversation. The trio look like an ad for the idealistic high school experience. Upon his arrival, Lup rolls her eyes and lowers her rose-tinted sunglasses. “Finally. I’m a busy gal, Taako, you can’t keep me waiting like this.”

“Ah, stuff it,” he says fondly, and she grins. Taako clambers into the passenger seat as Barry says his stammered goodbyes and Lucretia leans in to give Lup a kiss. Across the parking lot, he sees Magnus talking to Merle and Davenport, who are seated in the truckbed of Magnus’ incredibly dubious Ford F-150. As Lup pulls out of the parking lot, Magnus yells, “Taako! Party at my place Friday, you two in?” Merle cheers as he says the word ‘party’ and pumps his fists in the air like a dork.

“We’ll be there,” Taako assures him loudly as Lup speeds out of there. Something poppy is playing on the radio, and he feels great. He can feel wonderful things on the horizon.

“So, you doing another piece later today?” Lup asks as she turns onto the main road. The pins on her worn denim jacket glint in the sunlight. Building after building flashes by, each presenting a possible spot for his graffiti.

“Yeah, maybe. I was thinking something Evard’s Black Tentacles inspired, but I gotta finish the design first.”

Lup grins heartily at the mention of their favorite band. “Baller. I gotta hit the mall this afternoon, so let me know if you need me to snag you some spray paint.”

Taako gives her a thumbs up in response. “Thanks, sis, but I’m all good on paint. Unless you can find some kind of glittery dark purple spray paint, that is.”

She just shrugs. “I’ll keep you posted.”

Lup and Taako live in an apartment building a few blocks away from school. They also live there alone, which is something Taako never talks about with anyone. So what if he and his sister are on their own? Plenty of high schoolers are. Besides, what with his superb cooking and Lup’s ability to do pretty much anything she sets her mind to, the two of them make enough to live relatively comfortably. Taako works weekends and most school nights as a cook at a nearby restaurant, and Lup, rather inexplicably, works as a receptionist at the funeral home run by Kravitz’s mom. Sometimes their water shuts off until they manage to scrounge up enough to pay the bill, but that happens to every adult once in a while, right? The fact that Taako has to deal with a utility outage about once a month doesn’t mean anything. Living alone doesn’t mean a thing.

As per usual, their foyer is messy as fuck. Lup deposits her jacket on an overburdened coat rack and heads to her room. Taako slips into his, yanking his sketchbook out of his bag as he does so. He’s got a lot of work to do.

Clothes are strewn haphazardly across most available surfaces, leaving Taako only a small space on his mattress to work. The clothes are a result of his daily inability to decide on what outfit to wear. The only outfit that remains in his closet at the moment is his chef’s uniform for work. Cleaning up can wait, though. His homage to Evard’s Black Tentacles isn’t gonna create itself.

Taako grabs some poster board and begins sketching out the design in large, black Sharpie strokes. Eventually, the scribbles form into something coherent: a writhing mass of tentacles with a heavily lidded eye in the middle. In Taako’s humble opinion, it looks cool as fuck.

Next comes the cutting. Taako draws his trusty Xacto knife over the surface of the poster, careful to only slice what needs slicing. Once he’s done, he takes another moment to survey his handiwork. This stencil’s probably the best one he’s ever made.

The backpack he takes out with him on graffiti missions lies slumped against the wall. Taako grabs it and stuffs his stencil inside along with three different spray cans. He’s gonna use purple, black, and blue for this piece, and it’s going to look fucking amazing.

Only a few more hours to wait, and he’ll have his revenge on that stupid bone guy.

***  
Kravitz’s house has approximately three more spires than the average domestic residence. In the light of the full moon, it looks almost haunted. Taako hefts his backpack up his shoulder and begins climbing up the tree closest to where he assumes Kravitz’s bedroom window is. He’s exchanged his flashy clothes for a black hoodie and skinny jeans so that he’ll be harder to spot at night. Once he’s seated on the awning, he pulls out his phone and shoots Krav a text. As he waits for a reply, Taako admires the structure he’s sitting on. Kravitz’s house would be really fun to graffiti, though Taako would never do it. That would create way too much buzz, and Kravitz’s mom would probably send the cops looking for whoever did it. At least with public buildings, there’s less of a worry.

Taako’s been drawing on various public buildings for years now. He always chooses ones that won’t draw too much attention, but tonight is different. Tonight, he’s gonna outsmart his rival street artist once and for all. His target tonight is the Neverwinter water tower, a hulking structure a few blocks away from from the school. It’s flashy as fuck, and if Taako can pull this off he’ll be the talk of the town.

On the other side of Kravitz’s roof, a window slides open and Kravitz pops his head out. He turns his head from side to side, trying and failing to spot Taako.

“Ah, fuck,” Taako quietly exclaims, and quickly scrambles over to Kravitz’s side of the roof. “‘Sup, dude, ready to go?” he asks nonchalantly, as if he’d been on the correct side of the roof the whole time.

Kravitz rolls his eyes. “Yeah. Where are we starting our search for this rival of yours?”

“Oh, I’ve given up on searching. I’m just gonna out-art him instead.” Kravitz raises his eyebrows incredulously, but Taako’s already shimmying down the side of his house. “C’mon, we’re headed to the water tower.”

From above him, he hears Kravitz’s exasperated, “The water tower? Taako, what the fuck?”

“Just come on! It’ll be great, I swear.”

Kravitz grumbles about it, but he follows along.

***  
The water tower is a monstrosity up close. The ladder leading to its top is almost impossibly tall, and Taako winces at how visible he’ll be once up there. This is undoubtedly the riskiest piece of his career as a street artist, but he has to show the upstart who’s boss. So, without a second thought, he begins climbing the tower, Kravitz a few rungs below him.

As they climb, Kravitz tries to start a conversation. “Listen, Taako, I-”

“Don’t worry about the cops, dude,” Taako interjects. His hands are sweaty and buzzing with energy, and he can hardly climb this ladder competently, much less hold a conversation. “I haven’t been caught yet, and I don’t plan to tonight.”

Kravitz lets out a sigh. “No, Taako, I have to tell you something. I-”

Taako waves a hand behind him in an attempt to shut Kravitz up, then clings to the ladder once he remembers how high up he is. “Not now, kemosabe. You can tell me whatever it is after I pull this off. We really don’t have time for small talk.”

“Alright, fine,” Kravitz says, and they lapse back into silence.

In what seems like either five seconds or five years later, the two of them reach the top and clamber onto the metal walkway. His personal white whale lies spread out before him, impossibly large.

“Well,” Taako says after a moment, “guess it’s now or never.” He drops his backpack to the floor of the walkway and begins rooting through it for his supplies.

“Quick, hold this up against the side for me,” Taako demands, tossing Kravitz the stencil. “We don’t have that much time, and I really gotta pull this off.”

Kravitz looks worried, but complies. “It’s dumb that this art form’s illegal,” he remarks faux-casually, and Taako hums in assent. 

“Fuck, dude, I know. Luckily, the cops haven’t caught me yet, but the fear’s kinda always there.” He uncaps the black can of spray paint and begins spraying it over the stencil. “The adrenaline’s kinda the best part, though. It’s like I’m pulling off a heist in front of the whole town.”

“Yeah,” Kravitz enthuses. “It’s- I mean, it seems really fun. Definitely like something I’d like to try.”

Taako snorts. “You’re trying it right now, kemosabe.” He drops the black spray paint and grabs the purple. “You can drop the stencil now.” 

As Kravitz does so, Taako begins shading in the tentacles and adding in their suction cups. Finally, he sprays in the iris of the eye with the dark blue paint.

“Damn,” Kravitz says. “It looks awesome.”

Taako leans back against the rail proudly. “Thanks. It does look pretty fuckin’ great.”

He allows himself a moment more to admire his handiwork, then stuffs all his equipment into his bag and heads back down the ladder. Kravitz climbs down after him, which gives Taako a pretty good view of his ass.

He makes it to the ground safely, but Kravitz slips, falling off the ladder for a tense moment before grabbing back onto it. As he latches back on, a marker drops from his pocket and rolls to Taako’s feet. Taako picks it up and inspects it. It’s a white paint marker, something that doesn’t make any sense for Kravitz to have. Unless-

Kravitz’s feet hit the ground as Taako yells, “What the fuck, dude?”

All his worries about the cops are gone. He’d thought Kravitz was cool, but instead the asshole’s been going around fucking with his art behind his back and outshowing him. Kravitz looks incredibly taken aback, and Taako tosses the white paint marker at his feet.

“I know what those markers are used for, asshole. You’re the one who’s been adding to my art, aren’t you? God, I should’ve guessed it. You probably only came along tonight so you could get to my art quicker and show how much better at it you are than me.”

Taako is pissed. Graffiti is his thing, one of the only talents he can claim to have. To have his work defaced and upstaged like that is so fucking insulting, not to mention embarrassing. It relegates him to just some shitty punk with no actual care for the art form, an unsuccessful, boring piece of shit. Without his ability to make cool art, he’s just another boring high school senior.

Kravitz holds out his hands in an attempt to placate him. “Listen, Taako, I-”

“No, you listen. I don’t wanna see you ever again, okay? Next time, don’t fuck with other people’s art. You dick.” Taako starts to walk away.

As he begins to depart, Kravitz calls out, “Wait!”

Taako almost doesn’t turn back around, almost leaves Kravitz standing there by the water tower alone. Instead, for reasons beyond him, he turns back around and folds his arms across his chest. “Yeah? Got something to say for yourself?”

Kravitz sighs and looks down at his shoes to where the marker still lies. “Fuck, Taako, I thought you’d think it was cool! I didn’t expect you to see it as a challenge.” He looks up apologetically. “I just really like your work. I just really like you, Taako, and I thought this would be a neat way to convey that.” Kravitz sighs and lets his gaze drop back to his shoes. “I guess I was wrong about that. I’ve never really been the best at romance stuff.”

Oh. Oh.

“Wait,” Taako splutters, all anger forgotten. “You like me?”

An expression of shock befalls Kravitz’s face. “Yeah. You couldn’t tell? I thought I was being obvious.”

Rapidly, Taako runs through his memories of Kravitz, trying to pinpoint any crush giveaways. “No, not at all, man. I thought you couldn’t tell that I was hitting on you!”

Kravitz laughs, a pleasant sound. “Oh, believe me, I knew. I just kind of assumed you were like that with everyone.”

Taako throws his hands up in the air in happy exasperation. “Dude, you’ve seen me around other people! I don’t flirt with everyone I see!”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Kravitz starts with a grin. In order to prove him wrong, Taako pushes him up against the ladder and kisses him.

It feels like every stereotype about glorious kisses all at once. It’s electric, sparks are flying, yada yada yada. Taako knows that it’s kind of pretentious to think like that, but he’s also kissing a really hot dude right now so he figures a little pretension is allowed. He could do this forever, honestly. 

Kravitz breaks away from the kiss after a moment and murmurs, “This ladder is hurting my back.”

“Oh,” Taako says, and laughs a little. “Whoops, sorry, hot stuff.”

A police car drives past, scaring them both into reality. 

“Oh, shit,” Taako says, “we’ve been here way too long. The cops are gonna notice my piece soon and come investigate. Wanna get out of here?”

Kravitz fixes him with a grin. “Sure, I’d love to,” he smirks. “Are we going back to yours or mine?”

“Shut up,” Taako replies without heat, then thinks about it for a moment. “I mean, mine’s free-”

The cop car makes another lap, and its lights flip on. Kravitz grabs Taako’s hand. “Come on, Taako, we can talk about that later. Let’s just run.”

“Yeah,” Taako says, “okay,” and together they run.

**Author's Note:**

> i probably could've ended this better, it's been a long time since i've written anything ship related lol. lmk what you think/if you'd want to see more of this au! 
> 
> [my tumblr](http://orcgf.tumblr.com/)


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